Chicken and Kale Casserole

I love buying Kale at my local farmers market and finding dishes that include Kale!  This recipe is easy if you use a rotisserie chicken.  Yum.

Source: Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3/4 pound large pasta shells
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large yellow onion, diced medium

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 bunches kale (1 1/2 pounds), tough stems and ribs removed, leaves coarsely chopped

2 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken (from 1/2 rotisserie chicken)

1 container (48 ounces) part-skim ricotta

3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (from 2 lemons)

3/4 cup Parmesan, grated (2 1/4 ounces)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain; return to pot. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high. Add onion and garlic; cook until onion is beginning to soften, 4 minutes. Add kale, cover, and cook until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer to pot with pasta.

2. Stir in chicken, ricotta, lemon zest, and 1/2 cup Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish; top with 1/4 cup Parmesan. Bake until top is golden, 30 minutes.

Banana S'mores

I found these on pinterest - so easy and so delicious!  Just slice a banana, stuff with chocolate chips and mini marshmallows and bake at 375 for 6-8 min and you have warm chocolate goodness in the picture below.

Cooking Light Pasta Salad with Mint, Melon & Prosciutto

I just discovered a wonderful little Italian shop in Littleton, CO that specializes in homemade raviolis and also has all the staples of a good Italian deli including fabulous prosciutto!  For my local readers, the shop is called The Rav House Homemade Gourmet.  On the day I visited the owner had just pulled out a batch of scratch made cinnamon rolls that he was taking to his fellow shop owners and he gave me one straight out of the oven.  Heavenly!  Ok, back to the recipe, in a Cooking Light magazine they had several mix and match pasta salad recipes and this one was perfect since I had just brought home the Italian prosciutto!

Source: Cooking Light

Ingredients:
3 cups of your favorite cooked, chilled pasta with a tablespoon of olive oil
½ cup cubed fresh cantaloupe
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
1.5 ounces shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:
Mix and enjoy.  So easy!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are some of Erik's favorite cookies and he said the take a long time to make.  We whipped them up one night after dinner in no time and they were really good cookies.  I think this plate of cookies disappeared faster than I should admit :)

Source: vintage victuals blog

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups uncooked regular oats

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

1 cup toasted pecans, chopped (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a baking sheet and set aside. In an electric mixer bowl, beat butter and both sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the oats and stir well. Gradually add to the butter mixture, mixing until well blended. With a wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips and pecans.

Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Cool on pan 2 to 3 minutes before cooling on wire racks. 

Bacon, Date and Manchego Quesadillas with Pistachio Cream

 

I have really started liking dates - yes, the food dates, real life romantic dates are great too :)  I made bacon wrapped dates awhile back (Link Here) and this time dates and bacon made an appearance together.  I never would have thought to put them together, but of course Food Network came up with a great pairing in their March 2014 magazine.  Enjoy!

Source:   Food Network Magazine Bacon issue - March 2014

Ingredients:
For the quesadillas:
12 slices bacon
4 10 -inch flour tortillas
2 cups shredded manchego cheese (about 8 ounces)
5 dates, pitted and julienned
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

For the pistachio cream:
1/2 cup salted pistachios
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 cups spinach
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Arrange the bacon slices side by side on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until browned and crisp, 15 to 18 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Meanwhile, make the pistachio cream: Combine the pistachios, red pepper flakes, garlic, lemon juice and spinach in a food processor and pulse until chopped; with the motor running, slowly stream in the olive oil until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper and process 5 more seconds. Pour the mixture into a bowl and whisk in the crema; set aside.

Assemble the quesadillas: On 1 half of each tortilla, layer 1/2 cup cheese, 3 slices bacon and a few date slices. Fold the tortillas in half to cover the filling. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 2 quesadillas and cook until golden on both sides and gooey in the middle, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining 2 quesadillas, adding the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan.

Cut each quesadilla into 4 triangles; serve with the pistachio cream.

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

An easy weeknight dinner!  Just grab a rotisserie chicken on the way home and this recipe is super easy!

Source: Raining Hot Coupons Blog

Ingredients:

• 10 small soft flour tortillas (you can use corn but I like flour with chicken)
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups shredded and cooked chicken (I used rotisserie chicken)
• 3 cups Monterey Jack cheese – shredded
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 4oz can diced green chillies (I like medium – they are not spicy at all)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine shredded chicken and 1 cup of cheese
3. Fill tortillas with the mixture above and roll each one then place in a greased 9×13 pan
4. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat
5. Stir flour into butter and whisk for 1 minute over heat.
6. Add broth and whisk together. Cook over heat until it’s thick and bubbles up
7. Take off heat and add in sour cream and chilies. (be careful it’s not too hot or the sour cream will curdle)
8. Pour mixture over enchiladas and add remaining cheese to top.
9. Bake in oven for 20-23 minutes then you will want to broil for 3 minutes to brown the cheese.
10. Enjoy!

Mushroom, Gruyère, and Spinach Quiche

I made this quiche one night and then had the leftovers for breakfast the next day!  Even the leftovers tasted great - heated in a 375 degree oven for about 15 min!

Source: Cooking Light April 2014

Ingredients:
1 pie crust (I used a packaged one to save time)
3 center-cut bacon slices
1/3 cup chopped shallots
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
2 cups packed baby spinach
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/3 cup half-and-half
3 large eggs
1 large egg white
2 ounces cave-aged Gruyère cheese, grated

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Bake the crust (with pie weights on top of foil) at 425° for 12 minutes or until edges are golden. Remove weights and foil; bake an additional 2 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
3. Reduce oven temperature to 350°.
4. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings; crumble. Return pan to medium-high heat. Add shallots to drippings in pan; sauté 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and thyme; cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in spinach; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Drain any excess liquid.
5. Place milk, half-and-half, eggs, egg white, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a blender; process until smooth.
6. Arrange half of cheese over bottom of crust; top with spinach mixture and remaining half of cheese. Carefully pour milk mixture over cheese. Sprinkle with bacon. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until filling is set. Let stand 10 minutes.